CVRD to hold open houses on proposed housing tax

The Cowichan Valley Regional District is seeking community input on a proposed new tax to assist with costs related to social housing.

The tax, which would be assessed through an annual property value tax of $4.58 per $100,000 of assessed value, would raise approximately $765,000 per year.

The money would be managed by the Cowichan Housing Association to leverage and attract funding from the federal and provincial governments to build affordable housing.

The extra funding would allow the CHA to negotiate with local governments, senior levels of government, developers, and community groups to build more affordable housing in the region, coordinate with the social services sector to prevent homelessness, identify affordable housing issue areas and opportunities to address them, and collect data and keep the CVRD and the community informed.

RELATED STORY: CVRD PROPOSES NEW TAX

Over the coming weeks, there will be several opportunities for the public to provide feedback on this topic, including during community open houses to be held in four locations in the region.